December 1, 2025 • 33 mins
A suburb record falls in Bankstown at six-and-a-half million, but the real headline is what it proves: momentum is still there for agents who price right, run a pro diary, and keep calling when everyone else clocks off. We swap excuses for evidence and map a practical path to 2x growth next year with simple, high-leverage shifts you can implement this week.
We break down a ruthless year-end reset using stop, start, continue—what to cut, what to add, and what to keep but execute with more precision. You’ll hear why belief follows action, how to build streaks that compound, and the exact daily cadence top performers use: blocked prospecting, tight vendor updates, and role-play that actually moves the needle. We share the short-video proposal that beats a 20-page deck, a clean negotiation frame that sets expectations early, and a buyer follow-up sequence that shortens days on market.
We also dive into EBU structure: crystal-clear roles, removing the lead-agent bottleneck, turning assistants into revenue partners, and scaling only as fast as your plumbing allows. Scarcity, used honestly, becomes a close; discipline, used daily, becomes your brand. Use the holiday window to rest, learn, and pre-build January so you hit the ground running with a schedule that looks more like a surgeon’s than a wanderer’s.
If you’re ready to think bigger, act faster, and practice like a pro, this conversation is your blueprint. Enjoy the energy, steal the scripts, and set your 2026 standard now. If this helped, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review—what’s the one habit you’ll start tomorrow?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom Panos (00:00):
John Panos, John McGrath, Troy Malcolm.
We are in the semifinal periodof the year in real estate.
Actually, more like preliminaryfinals, if you ask me.
We're going to still do anothertwo podcasts.
Susan said to me, Should thisbe your last podcast?
I think we can do another twopodcasts.
I think we can go all the waytill around the 15th of
December.
(00:20):
And we open up this podcastwith a sale that I'm absolutely
shocked.
We've just been told off airthat number 84.
I I can mention the address,John.
Troy Malcolm (00:31):
Yeah.
John McGrath (00:31):
Yeah.
Tom Panos (00:32):
84 Fenwick Street, Bankstown uh has just sold,
transacted for six and a half.
John McGrath (00:40):
About six and a half million, which is double
the previous price record inBankstown was three and a half.
And this hit six and a half.
And I just shout out to JennyTran.
She's a great young lady, greatagent, works with your friend
of mine and Troy's Georgie Caposat Bankstown.
And uh I mean I've got to tellyou, there's plenty of people
who would have looked atBankstown.
(01:00):
No disrespect to Bankstown.
We love Bankstown.
Tom Panos (01:03):
Paul Keating territory, John.
Paul Keating culturally.
John McGrath (01:05):
Paul Keating, yeah, yeah, home of the mighty
bulldogs, all that good stuff.
But you know, three and a halfmillion, a lot of people would
say, God, they're sellinghousing Banks now, three and a
half million.
Well, now try six and a halfmillion.
So, you know, good message foreveryone, as you've just said,
Tommy, there's still plenty oftime between now and Christmas
to do stuff, including thepodcast.
But um get out there and makesales, man.
(01:28):
Get out there and make sales.
Tom Panos (01:30):
So, Johnny, you you you you've met the guy.
I remember you uh we were bothhaving a conversation with him
at ARIC.
His name's uh Robbie Cristianofrom um uh an independent
business in Brisbane.
Anyway, I was talking to himthe other day and I said to him,
Um, have you got a chance to doany more deals?
(01:52):
Because he's gonna finish theyear at two million.
And he said to me, Yeah, yeah.
And I go, how many more?
And he and I go, two or three.
He goes, No, and this is a guy,let me tell you, he's not an
exaggerator.
You know how you meet differenttypes of people.
He's the opposite to anexaggerator.
He goes, No, uh hopefully we'llprobably do about another ten.
I said, ten, and he goes, Yeah,I've got the stock.
(02:12):
And I go, so they're launched.
He goes, Yeah, I've got the tenlistings.
He goes, everything sells.
He goes, when you price themright, everything sells.
So he goes, got three, fourweeks.
He goes, that that will beeasy.
So the bottom line is peopletransacting.
I am getting messages from papeople saying, Oh, where have
all where have all the buyersgone?
And then when you ask them,well, have you got stock that
(02:34):
you're marketing hard is a priceright?
Or they say no.
Well, I said, if you've got nostock with no buyers price
right, there's obviously nobuyers.
John McGrath (02:42):
Tell me another one, and again, I don't want to
sound like I'm skidding, but I'ma proud parent here.
Uh Ahmed Nayak, 31 sales forthe month.
Just hit 31 sales for themonth.
Um, he was away.
Uh, he had to go away onbusiness for a few days and uh
personal say he's away for aboutfive, six days of the month.
Um, and I know we're gonnaprobably touch on a bit later,
(03:05):
EBUs, but his team continuedselling a property a day, more
than that, because God hopepeople have Sundays off, at
least one day.
Uh 31 sales um for the year,which I think Troysey is
probably number two.
I reckon Chauncey did 32 atthis one.
Troy Malcolm (03:22):
Very close to 30.
John McGrath (03:24):
I think that's our record.
Um the great Adrian Bow.
I reckon the great Adrian Bowdid 28 sales.
God loves Bowie.
Bowie, reach out.
We haven't seen you for toolong, man.
I hope he's well.
But uh, I think Bowie mighthave done 28 at his peak, and um
31 to Armak Nayak and 32 toPichonche.
So it's it's good to besurrounded by high achievers.
Tom Panos (03:46):
Yeah, outstanding work.
And I've got to say that I'venoticed a lot of the real estate
agents have actually worked onand stayed on longer.
Um, a lot of them, I don't Imean, there has been a message,
not just from us, but fromeveryone that's got a voice in
real estate, which is don'twaste December.
(04:09):
And I think and I think that'sbeen the case.
But today we're gonna touch onum the sort of thing that you do
at the end of the year.
And as we were coming up withthe subject, Troy and John, I
remember John Hardigan, when Iwas an employee of News Corp.
Thanks for everything.
(04:32):
What are you doing forChristmas?
And he only used to ask me twoquestions about business.
And this is what they were.
What are you going to do lessof next year?
And what are you going to domore of next year?
And it was like it was twosimple questions, but they were
reflecting on what's working andwhat you should double down on
(04:52):
and what is actually nothelping, in fact, might be
harming, and that you shouldstop.
So we thought today, John andTroy, we just talk about, you
know, that sort of genre ofconversation for our agents that
listen to the podcast to sitback and actually reflect what's
been working, what's not beenworking.
And I'd love to get you to bothshare with your own experience
(05:15):
with your McGraw people and theconversations that you have on a
day-to-day basis, the sorts ofthings that you feel like next
year agents should have a focuson and you know, double down on
and what they should actuallytry and eliminate.
What are some of the thingsthat come to mind?
John McGrath (05:33):
As our friend Mike Shegold used to say, Troy and
Tom, um stop, start, better.
What are you gonna stop, start,continue?
What are you gonna stop doing?
What are you gonna start doing?
What are you gonna continuedoing bracket but better?
Um so let's let's have a lookat that.
And and uh I I the first thingthat you know we just talked
(05:55):
about, I'll just I'll justfinish off that Armant night
thing, uh Tommy.
I said to Armant, a friend ofmine had a property to sell in
his air.
I said, should we wait till thenew year?
He said, Why?
And I said, Oh, look, you know,I just hear you know murmurs
around that you know maybethere's not a lot of buyers.
He said, John, it's fine.
He said, if we price it right,we'll sell it.
He sold it in five days.
So, you know, the that's thetale of the story.
(06:17):
If you price it right andyou're confident and you have a
plan and a great team, um whatwould I start doing?
I'd I'd certainly startthinking bigger because a lot of
people's problems come down tothe fact they keep thinking
small.
And when you think small, youdon't have to change anything
because when I say think small,if you think what you're
currently doing or a microimprovement, you actually don't
(06:39):
have to change anything, youjust keep turning up to work.
If you if you talk in terms of2x, or hopefully more, you
actually got to start working onyourself.
So I I would start thinkingbigger and then I would ask
myself the question for me to 2xnext year, not in five years,
next year, what would I whowould I have to be?
What would I have to dodifferently?
(07:02):
So then you start trying tothink about who would I have to
be.
So people have got to get fallin love with the obstacles, and
they have to get used torejection as being their friend,
not their enemy.
Because if you follow aprocess, if you turn up with a
degree of energy and some degreeof product knowledge and so
forth, um, you know, you and youevery single day you make 90
(07:24):
minutes worth of calls and thenyou go and door knock, or you
then you have five buyerappointments or whatever,
whatever your system is, you aregonna get big numbers.
You're gonna get big numbers.
The problem is most peoplethink small and they don't make
excuses, they don't reinventthemselves.
So, Troy, Orica, and the firstthing I'm gonna throw in there
is start thinking bigger, startevaluating yourself as to what
(07:46):
has to change for you to achievethose bigger targets.
Uh, that's what that's whereI'd be starting with.
Troy, over to you.
Troy Malcolm (07:54):
Well, I'm gonna continue on from that, John, and
say that people should startbelieving in themselves more.
I think a lot of people have,you know, gone to the this point
in the year and they've startedto think, okay, well, that was
a good year, that was a badyear, or that this year, you
know, I need to change.
But they need to believe thatthey can do those things.
They need to believe that theycan embrace technology, they
(08:16):
need to believe that they shouldbe, you know, having those
buyers, better relationshipswith those clients, and they
need to believe what's possibleif they did double their
business next year.
What do they have to do to getthere?
So an extension of what yousaid.
Um, but I do believe thatpeople need to believe in
themselves even more than whatthey currently are.
John McGrath (08:35):
Yeah, and I think, Tom, the way people will build
that belief, um, you've got to,which will always help.
That's why, you know, if you ifTom doesn't coach you, and I
know Tom's pulling back oncoaching, but get Tom or someone
else to be a full-time coachbecause you you need someone
asking you the the questions.
Um what is it, Troy, that makesyou think 2x is not possible?
(08:56):
It's the start of a greatconversation.
Because then you say, Oh, well,John, I've been in this 12
years and that's my best year.
Well, that's what Alex Jordansaid at 380,000, now he's 10
million.
So then you need to havesomeone ask you the tough
questions, or just the qualityquestions, really, and then you
need to, you know, justeliminate, and we call it
(09:17):
peeling the onion or removingthe mooring lines until there's
nothing left but the truth.
And the truth sounds like uh,to be honest, I really am
petrified of rejection.
When I hear that, I love itbecause that sounds real to me.
Telling me, you know, you know,my time management needs work.
No, it doesn't, man.
You've got two listings.
(09:37):
Your time management can beworkful and you'll still sell
the two listings, but you know,like it's a matter of are you
afraid to get on the phone?
Are you afraid to ask a closingquestion?
Uh are you afraid to go outthere and and do some
role-playing in front of yourpeers?
The things that embarrasspeople are normally the things
that are going to get you.
(09:57):
I think that old saying says,on the other side of fear and
embarrassment, you know, isfreedom forever.
Uh or something like that.
And I think it's true.
So, and then, true, what Iwould say, just following off
the back of your point, iscreate some small win
opportunities.
You know, a streak starts withone.
What can you do?
Don't boil the ocean, don'tsay, oh god, I did 500, so how
(10:19):
am I going to get to a million?
Just say, what do I have to dotoday at nine o'clock every
morning for the next year?
I'm going to pick up the phone,I'm going to, with a positive
attitude, start calling peoplein my database or people off ID
for D for me or whatever is yoursource of information.
And I'm going to haveconversations with them.
I'm going to say, Troy, it'sJohn McGrath.
(10:40):
Just wanted to, you know, I tobe honest, we've never met, but
I saw you on our database, and Ihope someone's been in touch to
give you an update on themarket.
But I just wondered whetherthere's anything that you'll
think of doing in 26 that Icould do with help.
And you have that chat.
And if you sound like a nice,decent, humble, informed,
interested person, what are theygoing to say?
(11:01):
Well, no, thanks for your call.
No, no one's called me in fiveyears, to be honest.
Um, but I appreciate the calland the update.
We're not going to do anything,but if you have enough of those
calls, you you're going tounearth the six percent in your
community that are looking tosell this year.
Now then you need to have agreat listing presentation.
We'll talk about that later.
But so Tom, you know, beforeyou chime in yours, I'm just
(11:22):
gonna the next thing I'm gonnasay is you've got to put in the
effort to train, Ran.
If you did an hour and a halfrole playing every day for 30
days, I reckon you'd be one ofthe if you did it properly,
prepared with the right peerpartner, and and you worked on
improving it every day so youdidn't just rab it off the same
hole and you worked on improvingit, you're gonna be one of the
(11:45):
best agents at handlingobjections and pitching your
process on the planet.
So efforts are required.
Tell me over to you.
Tom Panos (11:53):
I think upgrading a skill set, whether that skill
set you I think I think a goodquestion to ask yourself is what
skill do I need most to improveon that will have the biggest
impact?
What has to be upgraded?
And for some people, it's theirprospecting.
(12:15):
For some people, it's theirnegotiation ability.
For some people, they've justgot to get more comfortable
about telling owners moreclearer what the owner needs to
hear.
Call it vendor management, ifyou like.
For some people, they've got toactually get better at the way
that they are seen on socialmedia.
For some people, it's theirauction preparation.
(12:38):
So I think what you've got todo is have an honest assessment
on what bit is needs upgrading.
Um, because there might becertain things that you're doing
well.
And I think another good thingto ask yourself is if I repeated
the last 12 months exactly asthey were, would I be happy with
where I end up?
(12:59):
And if the answer is no, thenyou've got to say to yourself,
well, I think John or Troy,we've heard that line over and
over again.
If nothing changes, nothingchanges.
Well, if nothing changes,nothing will change, and you'll
be so dependent on what themarketplace does for your
figures.
So it's interesting, you know,how we're talking about two
(13:20):
things.
Some of them are skills, butsome of them are actually
mindsets and philosophies andattitudinal things.
John McGrath (13:28):
Yeah, I think I reckon there's you you're spot
on as usual, Tommy.
There's three things.
Um, character, yeah, which ispersonality, that's the bits
that make up why we're alldifferent.
Um, skills, then you know, sohow masterful are you at
negotiating or pitching orwhatever, which is not a part of
um character, by the way.
(13:48):
Character is humility, energy,excitement, listening skill,
that sort of stuff.
And then the third one isprocess.
So if you have incrediblecharacter, impeccable character,
if you will, if you have greatprocesses and you hone up in
this industry three or fourskills, that's all you need.
Like we're not talking about 30or 40 skills, talking about
(14:09):
three or four skills pitching,um, you know, or or or listing,
if you will, and uh negotiatingum and connecting with people.
So it's almost all you need isif you're if you are world-class
in those three areas, you ain'tgonna bring it next year.
Don, you're the last point, youknow, you know, there's an old
saying that most people shrinktheir dreams to match their
(14:31):
budget.
Um that's that's that's a bigissue because people say, Oh,
yeah, I did 250 this year, andyeah, well, you know, if I do
250 next year, everything'sfine.
And and everything could befine.
I hope it is for everyone.
But you know, just imagine whatyou're capable of.
I just think it's not about thedollars.
It's not about zeros in a bankaccount.
As Dr.
Fred said, once you've gotenough zeros, you got enough
(14:53):
zeros.
You don't need any more.
But but it's who you have tobecome to grow your business.
Yeah, look at Alex Shorten.
If Alex had just continued onhis way when he's doing 380, um,
he would have still had, I'msure, not a bad life.
And he's got a wonderful lifeand family, and that's all the
good stuff and the importantstuff.
But the fact that he wasprepared to go out on a leap and
(15:15):
be coachable, he had thehumility to kind of start again
after twelve years and becoached and listened and try
some new stuff.
Um you know, and and then hehad to work, and he's continued
to work on himself because thenyou've got to become a good
leader.
I think we're gonna talk aboutEBUs shortly, but you know, he
had to become better at leadingpeople and hiring people and and
(15:36):
all this sort of stuff.
So um yeah, I th I I the 10xbit I love is just about you've
got to become a better humanbeing.
You've got to become a betterTom, better version of Tom Panos
than you were yesterday ifyou're gonna 10X.
Troy Malcolm (15:51):
Okay.
Now go on, Troy.
I was just gonna say to finishoff that is to let go of the
excuses.
And a lot of the time it'sexcuses we tell ourselves that
actually hold us back thataren't real.
Um it's okay to be in theoffice for a couple of hours.
It's okay to go and have alonger lunch, it's okay to have
three coffees and you know,spend 45 minutes each time you
(16:12):
go and have a coffee.
Those excuses that we believeare reality are some of those
things that all of the topperformers we've spoken about in
today's episode, they let go ofthem a long time ago and they
held themselves to account, moreso than anything else.
John McGrath (16:26):
Bro, that's a great point.
And one of the terrific thingsI remembered from this year,
God, there's so many things youremember, aren't you?
You guys always sent me off.
Think of the things I there wasthere was uh an article, I
think, or a podcast, I can'tremember which, but the the
point was imagine if real estateagents ran their diaries like
doctors, surgeons, accountants,or lawyers, who are generally
(16:48):
like they have meetings from 8a.m.
till 6 p.m.
every 20 minutes or 15 minutesor 30 minutes, whatever it is.
You're right, Troy.
Most agents, because ourindustry is can be as flexible
as you want it to be, they kindof wander in, have the coffee,
have a donut, wander out, make acall, check out email, go back
on their social media.
A surgeon can't go onto socialmedia during the day.
(17:10):
Neither can an accountant,which is why they are so good at
what they do.
Uh, and by the way, they earnphenomenal amounts of money.
Um so imagine as an agent, ifyou had your diary and your
daily call sheet and your dailymeetings with your team and then
your appointments back to back,and you if you ran that in that
(17:30):
same professional, organizedmanner, and you again, if you've
got a modicum of of skills, ohmy god.
Well, most most people theywould be lucky to do two
qualified appointments a day.
Well, imagine if you're asurgeon or a lawyer or an
accountant, you go broke.
Well, certainly if you're alawyer and accountant, you
would.
You know, they they probablyhave 10 or 12 or 15 good quality
(17:53):
and then they fit calls inbetween.
So um yeah, just just let'sstart treating 26.
Let's not let whatever whateveryou know we didn't do in 25.
Let's in 26 make this for allour listeners and all times gym
members.
This is the year, life isshort.
I'm sure we've all lost someonedear to us in the last 12
(18:13):
months, sadly.
And, you know, let's let's intheir legacy, let's use it as a
reminder that we need to squeezethe lemon hard and make this
our best year ever.
Tom Panos (18:25):
Just talking about those doctors, guys, I was just
thinking about it.
They don't, you know, in realestate, I'm sure it does happen,
but not very often, they don'thave wait lists.
Like if you look at most, mostdoctors you've got to go in, the
good ones, you got to wait tosee them.
You can't just say, I'm seeingyou.
In real estate, generally, ifyou say, I want to list my
(18:48):
house, you're available to listyour house.
Most agents don't say, I have afull schedule, I can't take
your property on for anotherthree months.
And maybe, maybe what thereason is you're absolutely
right.
True professionals are sittingthere doing the job, not telling
people how much money they'remaking or how good they're
(19:08):
going.
They're actually doing theirjob.
They're, they're they'rethey're serving their clients or
or their or their patients assuch.
Um Is there any habits that youthink, both of you, you look
back at your team and you thinkto yourself, you know what?
If more real estate agents hadthese as habits, they'd be doing
(19:29):
so much better.
Are there any sort of microrituals or or or repeatable
behaviors that you think aregood things people adopt in
2026?
John McGrath (19:37):
I'm coaching a guy at the moment, tell me one of
our young up-and-coming brightlads to write about two million
this year.
And he said, I remember uh uhhe was referring to Alex
Phillips, you know, it was apodcast he'd heard Alex Phillips
on or a seminar or something hesaw him out.
And uh and hey, Alex is thegun, best best real estate agent
in the history, certainly ofAustralia, if not the world.
(19:59):
Um he said, uh I heard AlexPhillips say, you know, just
just hit dial, as you're hangingup, hit dial, hit dial, just
keep doing it.
I know Alex Jordan uh adopted asimilar practice himself, but
um, you know, it's just aboutAlex would be on the phone 12
hours a day, constantly.
(20:19):
So talk about no breaks, Tom,and no downtime and no time.
If you're just at AlexPhillips, you never catch him
look at social media.
Like once he's finished onecall, he's looking at his call,
he's he's on to the next, he'son to the next, he's onto the
next, he's ringing his pipeline.
So, you know, Hermosio saidsomething about volume negates
luck.
You are gonna miss somelistings, but it's not a problem
(20:40):
if you're going for 25 thismonth.
It's a problem if you're goingfor two.
So I think one of the habits isreally just um uh on the front
foot, be proactive, hit thecalls, don't overthink it,
because a lot of peopleoverthink, and it's you know, uh
they do it because they want toprocrastinate, because they
don't want the rejection.
So if you follow thebreadcrumbs back to rejection,
(21:01):
just get used to it, man.
Her mosey recently said, hesaid, I'm in the game of losing.
He said, I lose all day, everyday.
But he said, I know the more Ilose, the more I win.
And just as a different Troy,you know, preframe on I'm in the
game of losing.
So people get embarrassed.
Well, you know, I don't want toring one if he says no.
I thought we had such a goodconversation yesterday.
(21:22):
If he says no, he says no, youmove on to the next one and you
work out what you could havedone a bit better.
Troy Malcolm (21:27):
Troy.
The other habit that we alwayssee, the very best do, um, and
what we have seen this year isthat they're constantly wanting
to evolve their business.
They're not relying on whatworked in 2024.
They're not relying on whathappened and what worked three
weeks ago.
They're trying to evolve theirbusiness.
So they're students of life.
They're learning on the go,they're refining.
(21:48):
Like you just said there, John,they're refining their pitch.
If someone says no, how could Ido it better?
And I think the very besthabits are those that adopt new
skills and evolve their businessin 2026, they're definitely
going to win.
Tom Panos (22:00):
Beautifully said.
Let me let me share a habitthat I've adopted in 2025 that
I'm gonna triple down on 2026because it is just given me so
much peace and taken away somuch friction.
So for me, I used to hate,like, I hate having a
(22:22):
conversation with someone, andthen, and real estate agents
have to do this all the time.
They're going into properties,and then what happens is many
owners say, well, send me off aproposal, right?
I have a lot of the clientsthat I coach with, they say,
Tom, one of the things that doesmy head in is I'm running
around, I'm doing maybe, youknow, eight appraisals a week,
and I'm trying to manage theeight pieces of stock I already
(22:44):
got, and I feel guilty when Idon't get proposals done.
One of them said to me at thestart of this year, he says, You
know what I've been doing, Tom?
I said, What's that?
He goes, as soon as I get outof the car, I get in, uh get
into the car out of the listingpresentation, I actually shoot a
really powerful five-minutevideo summarizing everything
(23:04):
that I said, which is betterthan a proposal.
So, what I started doing at thestart of this year is when
people would say, Oh, Tom, ifyou can give us a proposal
there, I'd say, Listen, I am theproposal, I'm the website, I'm
I'm the person.
So, what I'll do for you isI'll actually do it in my own
words.
I'll do a very quick video,I'll send it back to you.
And I've got to tell you, ithas just it's it's just become
(23:26):
another process.
You finish your meeting,there's none of this, I've got
to get in and, you know, type inall these figures or speak to
an assistant.
So I think anything that takesaway friction in your life is a
good thing.
I reckon friction is what slowspeople down.
John McGrath (23:41):
I love that, Tommy.
Just and by the way, if I if Ireceived that as a potential
seller and someone said, youknow, great meeting.
We just want to go over hereare the five things that I'm
going to propose that we do withyour property.
Here's why I think, you know,if you encapsulate it into a
little, that's far morecompelling than a 20-page
document that no one readsanyway, to be quite honest.
(24:02):
Um, I I love that idea.
Or imagine if you said Tommy,turn this around.
You know, Tom, I'd love tospend hours doing a proposal for
you, but to be quite honest,when I'm not in a lounge room
with you or one of yourneighbours, I'm actually showing
buyers property and negotiatingdeals.
So I find it's more effectivefor me just to shoot a quick
video just uh reinforcing someof the key points.
(24:23):
So if you don't mind, I'll dothat.
Um, and it won't take you halfan hour to read, it'll take you
four minutes to watch.
And if off the back of that youfeel that you would want to
work with me, let's get moving.
So s I I really, I really bythe way, you're talking about
scarcity before, and I when Iwas selling full-time before
sort of managing the businessmore so, and I was usually had
(24:44):
about 15 campaigns running atany time, and I had this little
kind of calendar that I used todo, and it had the next four,
actually have the next six weeksrunning out.
And I would say, Tom, you know,I'd love to get started.
My issue is I know you want toopen this home in the morning,
and I agree it's the best time.
I can't start this home for twoweeks now unless I sell a few
(25:05):
of these that I'm runningbeforehand, which is quite
possible.
So, what I'd like to propose iswhy don't we say we're going to
start on the, you know, put adate out three weeks, but I'll
have you first on the list thatif I sell any of these
properties that I'm opening inthe morning, would that work for
you?
And scarcity, you know, Iremember reading the book from
Cialdini, it said, you know, theseven habits.
(25:26):
No, it wasn't seven habits, itwas influence.
And it was like six or seveninfluencing points.
And scarcity was one of the bigones.
And I found everyone would say,Oh, yeah, could you put us at
the top of the waiting list?
No, that'd be great.
No, we'd rather because I'dsay, look, it's no problem.
I've got some colleagues at theoffice that could handle it,
start next Saturday.
But if you want me standing onthe door and looking after you,
um, you know, all your inquiry,it's gonna be a three-week wait
(25:49):
at worst.
And uh, and I didn't make itup, it was real.
That was my, you know, if youwanted me standing at your door
next Saturday, I can't do it.
Um and it was a really strongclosing tool because people
would say, yeah, that'd begreat.
And inevitably, you know, aweek later I'd sell one of the
ones in the morning and andbring them into the fold.
Um, yeah, so that's that'sreally good.
What can we just we I know wehaven't got a lot of time on
(26:11):
this one left, Tommy, but uh youmentioned before about EBUs.
Maybe we should just touch onour observations.
And I want to start with youbecause I think you do some
brilliant coaching with yourclients around EBUs.
Okay, so I'll do it verystruggle, right, with EBUs.
What are you thinking is theirarea of struggle?
Tom Panos (26:28):
Okay, so to me, a a big uh brain dump on the things
that I reckon take an EBU frombeing extraordinary and
sometimes being average or evenbad scenarios, totally
dysfunctional.
Number one is that they don'thave clearly defined roles, and
they'll normally say thingsalong the lines, oh mate, we all
(26:49):
chip in.
The problem with everyonechipping in is that you have
drop balls, you have confusions,you have agents working below
their pre-grade.
And what I think Clary does isit creates speed, and every EBU
needs to have speed.
Probably the next thing is thelead agent often says, I can do
it better.
No one can do it like me.
(27:11):
As far as I'm and I know thatthe first the first one sounds
contradictory to the second one,but I really do think you've
got to have 80% of what you doas a lead agent, right?
Um, you've got to turn aroundand say to yourself, yes, you
can probably do it better.
But every time you say yes tothings, you're saying no to
(27:33):
other things.
And the problem that you haveis what would you rather have?
A lot of stuff getting done,even if it's not at the same
level that what you would havedone.
Um but often I find that theselead agents can be bottlenecks
to things.
And probably the last thing is,I just can't help, they use
assistance as receptionistsinstead of revenue partners.
(27:56):
I mean, assistance should bethere.
And I've actually put up a youknow a slide up there.
I mean, there are too manyofficers that use their
assistants um as receptionists,not as, you know, someone that's
going to help you increase yourrevenue.
Yeah.
They're probably the they'reprobably the the main ones.
(28:18):
Obviously, having a dailyhuddle that's you know standing
up for five or seven minutes isvery important.
The way you start your days,the way your day um unfolds, and
probably trying to grow toofast without having the
foundations.
And I know that we're all inabout growth, but I have seen
real estate companies thatactually don't have the plumbing
(28:40):
that can support the extrawater that's flowing through
there.
So you've just got to make surethat that side of it's good.
I just want to touch verybriefly, John, on EBUs.
Actually, you're gonna be atthat event, John.
On February the 10th, realestate gym's got a kickstart at
Sydney Olympic Park, and you'regonna speaking there.
(29:02):
But I've also got Bailey from23rd Street.
Do you guys ever use Bailey?
I think you do, don't you?
Every day.
Every day.
Every day.
We've got, and I've got a panelof four agents that are under
30 that are doing over a millioneach or over a hundred sales
each.
Liam Monique from McGraw, um uhone of Diamond TD's boys, um,
(29:26):
Ellie.
Um, we've also got Dip, who Iwould say arguably in the inner
west, along with Taroon, wouldbe the two biggest companies.
You know, he's a great agent.
Yep.
So February the 10th, I'd loveto, all real estate gym members.
And I know, John, you guys,kickstart season is a very big
period in February, but I'dactually say, what do you what
(29:50):
do you both do over the holidaysto ensure that when you come
back to work, you don't havethat, you know, that horrible
feeling that footy players havetowards the end.
Of their retirement when theycome back first day of training,
and then you hear, man, I thinkI'm gonna I can't do another
season, they retire.
What what that what do yourecommend a good protocol for an
(30:10):
agent uh to recharge, relax,enjoy, but at the same time not
come back tired?
John McGrath (30:20):
Yeah, well, look, I mean, everyone treats their
breaks and their Christmases orany other holidays differently.
Some people go hard and playhard and they're more tired at
the end of the holiday.
Other people recharge thebatteries, which and I'm like
you guys in that secondcategory.
I think, you know, you you'vejust got to work out what what a
lot of people, you know, theysay as a comparison is a thief
of joy.
A lot of people are doing stuffbecause they think that's what
(30:42):
everyone does, you know.
I just I just find, you know,what's my sweet spot?
I've got my dogs who are hereunder the desk at home with me
now, just sleeping away abouttaking for a walk.
I'll spend a lot of time withthem, hang out with a small
group of people, um, uh, youknow, go for some early morning
swims.
I do a lot of reading over thebreak, um, Tommy, and and
(31:02):
listening.
You know, probably morelistening nowadays than reading
because I just enjoy the wholethe whole podcast.
I mean, you've got to thinkabout when when we started Tommy
in real estate, and Troy to alesser degree when you started,
but you know, there was no rulethere was no real podcast.
So if you wanted to learn, youhad to go and find a book and
sit down and find the time toread it.
Now you're sticking your earpods that weren't around at that
(31:23):
point, and you go for a walk oryou're in the car, and and you
can tap into the minds and theadvice and the mentoring of the
best people on planet Earth.
So what do they say, Troy?
In the age of information,ignorance is a choice.
Um I don't find sorry, Troy,just gonna finish.
A lot of people say, Oh,doesn't that exhaust you?
Is that a holiday?
(31:44):
Yes, it's a holiday.
Sitting down, having a coffeeuh in the morning sun, listening
to a podcast, feeling that I'mgrowing my brain and my skills
and my acumen for next year isis is a joy, Troy.
Troy Malcolm (31:59):
Some of the greatest thinking time you can
have is when you're actuallyhaving that break.
And so there's so many dayswhere you're on the lounge or
you're in the park or you'rewalking the dogs or at the
beach.
Use that time to just maybelook at one thing in your
business that could improve.
It takes half an hour.
You're already outside, you'reenjoying the beautiful sunshine
(32:19):
or the water or whatever thatis.
But you actually do get a lotof clarity during the breaks as
well.
Um, I really love that.
So I used to take a notepadeverywhere, but now it's the
iPhone uh and just like jotsomething down.
Oh, what if we did that?
You don't have to implement itor execute it, but just write it
down and think what one thatcan chat better.
John McGrath (32:37):
Shout out to Troy, he won't say because he's a
humble guy.
But since he's taken over ourManly Forest Field and Sun Ives
businesses, he's doubled his uhtarget in last year's
performance in three months.
And wowing great guns.
Troy, I'm proud of you, aprotege of mine and a dear, dear
friend, and he is absolutelybraining it out there.
(32:57):
So well done.
Go go uh northern beaches anduh mid-north shore teams.
Well done, Troy.
Thank you.
Tom Panos (33:04):
Very exciting.
Well done, Troy.
Troy Malcolm (33:12):
I make the team listen to it every day.
We should see our numbers spikeagain.
Tom Panos (33:16):
100%.
So we'll be with you again nextweek, everyone.
Keep going, not long to go.
Stay well and have a greatweek.
John McGrath (33:24):
See you guys.
John Panos, John McGrath, Troy Malcolm.
We are in the semifinal periodof the year in real estate.
Actually, more like preliminaryfinals, if you ask me.
We're going to still do anothertwo podcasts.
Susan said to me, Should thisbe your last podcast?
I think we can do another twopodcasts.
I think we can go all the waytill around the 15th of
December.
(00:20):
And we open up this podcastwith a sale that I'm absolutely
shocked.
We've just been told off airthat number 84.
I I can mention the address,John.
Troy Malcolm (00:31):
Yeah.
John McGrath (00:31):
Yeah.
Tom Panos (00:32):
84 Fenwick Street, Bankstown uh has just sold,
transacted for six and a half.
John McGrath (00:40):
About six and a half million, which is double
the previous price record inBankstown was three and a half.
And this hit six and a half.
And I just shout out to JennyTran.
She's a great young lady, greatagent, works with your friend
of mine and Troy's Georgie Caposat Bankstown.
And uh I mean I've got to tellyou, there's plenty of people
who would have looked atBankstown.
(01:00):
No disrespect to Bankstown.
We love Bankstown.
Tom Panos (01:03):
Paul Keating territory, John.
Paul Keating culturally.
John McGrath (01:05):
Paul Keating, yeah, yeah, home of the mighty
bulldogs, all that good stuff.
But you know, three and a halfmillion, a lot of people would
say, God, they're sellinghousing Banks now, three and a
half million.
Well, now try six and a halfmillion.
So, you know, good message foreveryone, as you've just said,
Tommy, there's still plenty oftime between now and Christmas
to do stuff, including thepodcast.
But um get out there and makesales, man.
(01:28):
Get out there and make sales.
Tom Panos (01:30):
So, Johnny, you you you you've met the guy.
I remember you uh we were bothhaving a conversation with him
at ARIC.
His name's uh Robbie Cristianofrom um uh an independent
business in Brisbane.
Anyway, I was talking to himthe other day and I said to him,
Um, have you got a chance to doany more deals?
(01:52):
Because he's gonna finish theyear at two million.
And he said to me, Yeah, yeah.
And I go, how many more?
And he and I go, two or three.
He goes, No, and this is a guy,let me tell you, he's not an
exaggerator.
You know how you meet differenttypes of people.
He's the opposite to anexaggerator.
He goes, No, uh hopefully we'llprobably do about another ten.
I said, ten, and he goes, Yeah,I've got the stock.
(02:12):
And I go, so they're launched.
He goes, Yeah, I've got the tenlistings.
He goes, everything sells.
He goes, when you price themright, everything sells.
So he goes, got three, fourweeks.
He goes, that that will beeasy.
So the bottom line is peopletransacting.
I am getting messages from papeople saying, Oh, where have
all where have all the buyersgone?
And then when you ask them,well, have you got stock that
(02:34):
you're marketing hard is a priceright?
Or they say no.
Well, I said, if you've got nostock with no buyers price
right, there's obviously nobuyers.
John McGrath (02:42):
Tell me another one, and again, I don't want to
sound like I'm skidding, but I'ma proud parent here.
Uh Ahmed Nayak, 31 sales forthe month.
Just hit 31 sales for themonth.
Um, he was away.
Uh, he had to go away onbusiness for a few days and uh
personal say he's away for aboutfive, six days of the month.
Um, and I know we're gonnaprobably touch on a bit later,
(03:05):
EBUs, but his team continuedselling a property a day, more
than that, because God hopepeople have Sundays off, at
least one day.
Uh 31 sales um for the year,which I think Troysey is
probably number two.
I reckon Chauncey did 32 atthis one.
Troy Malcolm (03:22):
Very close to 30.
John McGrath (03:24):
I think that's our record.
Um the great Adrian Bow.
I reckon the great Adrian Bowdid 28 sales.
God loves Bowie.
Bowie, reach out.
We haven't seen you for toolong, man.
I hope he's well.
But uh, I think Bowie mighthave done 28 at his peak, and um
31 to Armak Nayak and 32 toPichonche.
So it's it's good to besurrounded by high achievers.
Tom Panos (03:46):
Yeah, outstanding work.
And I've got to say that I'venoticed a lot of the real estate
agents have actually worked onand stayed on longer.
Um, a lot of them, I don't Imean, there has been a message,
not just from us, but fromeveryone that's got a voice in
real estate, which is don'twaste December.
(04:09):
And I think and I think that'sbeen the case.
But today we're gonna touch onum the sort of thing that you do
at the end of the year.
And as we were coming up withthe subject, Troy and John, I
remember John Hardigan, when Iwas an employee of News Corp.
Thanks for everything.
(04:32):
What are you doing forChristmas?
And he only used to ask me twoquestions about business.
And this is what they were.
What are you going to do lessof next year?
And what are you going to domore of next year?
And it was like it was twosimple questions, but they were
reflecting on what's working andwhat you should double down on
(04:52):
and what is actually nothelping, in fact, might be
harming, and that you shouldstop.
So we thought today, John andTroy, we just talk about, you
know, that sort of genre ofconversation for our agents that
listen to the podcast to sitback and actually reflect what's
been working, what's not beenworking.
And I'd love to get you to bothshare with your own experience
(05:15):
with your McGraw people and theconversations that you have on a
day-to-day basis, the sorts ofthings that you feel like next
year agents should have a focuson and you know, double down on
and what they should actuallytry and eliminate.
What are some of the thingsthat come to mind?
John McGrath (05:33):
As our friend Mike Shegold used to say, Troy and
Tom, um stop, start, better.
What are you gonna stop, start,continue?
What are you gonna stop doing?
What are you gonna start doing?
What are you gonna continuedoing bracket but better?
Um so let's let's have a lookat that.
And and uh I I the first thingthat you know we just talked
(05:55):
about, I'll just I'll justfinish off that Armant night
thing, uh Tommy.
I said to Armant, a friend ofmine had a property to sell in
his air.
I said, should we wait till thenew year?
He said, Why?
And I said, Oh, look, you know,I just hear you know murmurs
around that you know maybethere's not a lot of buyers.
He said, John, it's fine.
He said, if we price it right,we'll sell it.
He sold it in five days.
So, you know, the that's thetale of the story.
(06:17):
If you price it right andyou're confident and you have a
plan and a great team, um whatwould I start doing?
I'd I'd certainly startthinking bigger because a lot of
people's problems come down tothe fact they keep thinking
small.
And when you think small, youdon't have to change anything
because when I say think small,if you think what you're
currently doing or a microimprovement, you actually don't
(06:39):
have to change anything, youjust keep turning up to work.
If you if you talk in terms of2x, or hopefully more, you
actually got to start working onyourself.
So I I would start thinkingbigger and then I would ask
myself the question for me to 2xnext year, not in five years,
next year, what would I whowould I have to be?
What would I have to dodifferently?
(07:02):
So then you start trying tothink about who would I have to
be.
So people have got to get fallin love with the obstacles, and
they have to get used torejection as being their friend,
not their enemy.
Because if you follow aprocess, if you turn up with a
degree of energy and some degreeof product knowledge and so
forth, um, you know, you and youevery single day you make 90
(07:24):
minutes worth of calls and thenyou go and door knock, or you
then you have five buyerappointments or whatever,
whatever your system is, you aregonna get big numbers.
You're gonna get big numbers.
The problem is most peoplethink small and they don't make
excuses, they don't reinventthemselves.
So, Troy, Orica, and the firstthing I'm gonna throw in there
is start thinking bigger, startevaluating yourself as to what
(07:46):
has to change for you to achievethose bigger targets.
Uh, that's what that's whereI'd be starting with.
Troy, over to you.
Troy Malcolm (07:54):
Well, I'm gonna continue on from that, John, and
say that people should startbelieving in themselves more.
I think a lot of people have,you know, gone to the this point
in the year and they've startedto think, okay, well, that was
a good year, that was a badyear, or that this year, you
know, I need to change.
But they need to believe thatthey can do those things.
They need to believe that theycan embrace technology, they
(08:16):
need to believe that they shouldbe, you know, having those
buyers, better relationshipswith those clients, and they
need to believe what's possibleif they did double their
business next year.
What do they have to do to getthere?
So an extension of what yousaid.
Um, but I do believe thatpeople need to believe in
themselves even more than whatthey currently are.
John McGrath (08:35):
Yeah, and I think, Tom, the way people will build
that belief, um, you've got to,which will always help.
That's why, you know, if you ifTom doesn't coach you, and I
know Tom's pulling back oncoaching, but get Tom or someone
else to be a full-time coachbecause you you need someone
asking you the the questions.
Um what is it, Troy, that makesyou think 2x is not possible?
(08:56):
It's the start of a greatconversation.
Because then you say, Oh, well,John, I've been in this 12
years and that's my best year.
Well, that's what Alex Jordansaid at 380,000, now he's 10
million.
So then you need to havesomeone ask you the tough
questions, or just the qualityquestions, really, and then you
need to, you know, justeliminate, and we call it
(09:17):
peeling the onion or removingthe mooring lines until there's
nothing left but the truth.
And the truth sounds like uh,to be honest, I really am
petrified of rejection.
When I hear that, I love itbecause that sounds real to me.
Telling me, you know, you know,my time management needs work.
No, it doesn't, man.
You've got two listings.
(09:37):
Your time management can beworkful and you'll still sell
the two listings, but you know,like it's a matter of are you
afraid to get on the phone?
Are you afraid to ask a closingquestion?
Uh are you afraid to go outthere and and do some
role-playing in front of yourpeers?
The things that embarrasspeople are normally the things
that are going to get you.
(09:57):
I think that old saying says,on the other side of fear and
embarrassment, you know, isfreedom forever.
Uh or something like that.
And I think it's true.
So, and then, true, what Iwould say, just following off
the back of your point, iscreate some small win
opportunities.
You know, a streak starts withone.
What can you do?
Don't boil the ocean, don'tsay, oh god, I did 500, so how
(10:19):
am I going to get to a million?
Just say, what do I have to dotoday at nine o'clock every
morning for the next year?
I'm going to pick up the phone,I'm going to, with a positive
attitude, start calling peoplein my database or people off ID
for D for me or whatever is yoursource of information.
And I'm going to haveconversations with them.
I'm going to say, Troy, it'sJohn McGrath.
(10:40):
Just wanted to, you know, I tobe honest, we've never met, but
I saw you on our database, and Ihope someone's been in touch to
give you an update on themarket.
But I just wondered whetherthere's anything that you'll
think of doing in 26 that Icould do with help.
And you have that chat.
And if you sound like a nice,decent, humble, informed,
interested person, what are theygoing to say?
(11:01):
Well, no, thanks for your call.
No, no one's called me in fiveyears, to be honest.
Um, but I appreciate the calland the update.
We're not going to do anything,but if you have enough of those
calls, you you're going tounearth the six percent in your
community that are looking tosell this year.
Now then you need to have agreat listing presentation.
We'll talk about that later.
But so Tom, you know, beforeyou chime in yours, I'm just
(11:22):
gonna the next thing I'm gonnasay is you've got to put in the
effort to train, Ran.
If you did an hour and a halfrole playing every day for 30
days, I reckon you'd be one ofthe if you did it properly,
prepared with the right peerpartner, and and you worked on
improving it every day so youdidn't just rab it off the same
hole and you worked on improvingit, you're gonna be one of the
(11:45):
best agents at handlingobjections and pitching your
process on the planet.
So efforts are required.
Tell me over to you.
Tom Panos (11:53):
I think upgrading a skill set, whether that skill
set you I think I think a goodquestion to ask yourself is what
skill do I need most to improveon that will have the biggest
impact?
What has to be upgraded?
And for some people, it's theirprospecting.
(12:15):
For some people, it's theirnegotiation ability.
For some people, they've justgot to get more comfortable
about telling owners moreclearer what the owner needs to
hear.
Call it vendor management, ifyou like.
For some people, they've got toactually get better at the way
that they are seen on socialmedia.
For some people, it's theirauction preparation.
(12:38):
So I think what you've got todo is have an honest assessment
on what bit is needs upgrading.
Um, because there might becertain things that you're doing
well.
And I think another good thingto ask yourself is if I repeated
the last 12 months exactly asthey were, would I be happy with
where I end up?
(12:59):
And if the answer is no, thenyou've got to say to yourself,
well, I think John or Troy,we've heard that line over and
over again.
If nothing changes, nothingchanges.
Well, if nothing changes,nothing will change, and you'll
be so dependent on what themarketplace does for your
figures.
So it's interesting, you know,how we're talking about two
(13:20):
things.
Some of them are skills, butsome of them are actually
mindsets and philosophies andattitudinal things.
John McGrath (13:28):
Yeah, I think I reckon there's you you're spot
on as usual, Tommy.
There's three things.
Um, character, yeah, which ispersonality, that's the bits
that make up why we're alldifferent.
Um, skills, then you know, sohow masterful are you at
negotiating or pitching orwhatever, which is not a part of
um character, by the way.
(13:48):
Character is humility, energy,excitement, listening skill,
that sort of stuff.
And then the third one isprocess.
So if you have incrediblecharacter, impeccable character,
if you will, if you have greatprocesses and you hone up in
this industry three or fourskills, that's all you need.
Like we're not talking about 30or 40 skills, talking about
(14:09):
three or four skills pitching,um, you know, or or or listing,
if you will, and uh negotiatingum and connecting with people.
So it's almost all you need isif you're if you are world-class
in those three areas, you ain'tgonna bring it next year.
Don, you're the last point, youknow, you know, there's an old
saying that most people shrinktheir dreams to match their
(14:31):
budget.
Um that's that's that's a bigissue because people say, Oh,
yeah, I did 250 this year, andyeah, well, you know, if I do
250 next year, everything'sfine.
And and everything could befine.
I hope it is for everyone.
But you know, just imagine whatyou're capable of.
I just think it's not about thedollars.
It's not about zeros in a bankaccount.
As Dr.
Fred said, once you've gotenough zeros, you got enough
(14:53):
zeros.
You don't need any more.
But but it's who you have tobecome to grow your business.
Yeah, look at Alex Shorten.
If Alex had just continued onhis way when he's doing 380, um,
he would have still had, I'msure, not a bad life.
And he's got a wonderful lifeand family, and that's all the
good stuff and the importantstuff.
But the fact that he wasprepared to go out on a leap and
(15:15):
be coachable, he had thehumility to kind of start again
after twelve years and becoached and listened and try
some new stuff.
Um you know, and and then hehad to work, and he's continued
to work on himself because thenyou've got to become a good
leader.
I think we're gonna talk aboutEBUs shortly, but you know, he
had to become better at leadingpeople and hiring people and and
(15:36):
all this sort of stuff.
So um yeah, I th I I the 10xbit I love is just about you've
got to become a better humanbeing.
You've got to become a betterTom, better version of Tom Panos
than you were yesterday ifyou're gonna 10X.
Troy Malcolm (15:51):
Okay.
Now go on, Troy.
I was just gonna say to finishoff that is to let go of the
excuses.
And a lot of the time it'sexcuses we tell ourselves that
actually hold us back thataren't real.
Um it's okay to be in theoffice for a couple of hours.
It's okay to go and have alonger lunch, it's okay to have
three coffees and you know,spend 45 minutes each time you
(16:12):
go and have a coffee.
Those excuses that we believeare reality are some of those
things that all of the topperformers we've spoken about in
today's episode, they let go ofthem a long time ago and they
held themselves to account, moreso than anything else.
John McGrath (16:26):
Bro, that's a great point.
And one of the terrific thingsI remembered from this year,
God, there's so many things youremember, aren't you?
You guys always sent me off.
Think of the things I there wasthere was uh an article, I
think, or a podcast, I can'tremember which, but the the
point was imagine if real estateagents ran their diaries like
doctors, surgeons, accountants,or lawyers, who are generally
(16:48):
like they have meetings from 8a.m.
till 6 p.m.
every 20 minutes or 15 minutesor 30 minutes, whatever it is.
You're right, Troy.
Most agents, because ourindustry is can be as flexible
as you want it to be, they kindof wander in, have the coffee,
have a donut, wander out, make acall, check out email, go back
on their social media.
A surgeon can't go onto socialmedia during the day.
(17:10):
Neither can an accountant,which is why they are so good at
what they do.
Uh, and by the way, they earnphenomenal amounts of money.
Um so imagine as an agent, ifyou had your diary and your
daily call sheet and your dailymeetings with your team and then
your appointments back to back,and you if you ran that in that
(17:30):
same professional, organizedmanner, and you again, if you've
got a modicum of of skills, ohmy god.
Well, most most people theywould be lucky to do two
qualified appointments a day.
Well, imagine if you're asurgeon or a lawyer or an
accountant, you go broke.
Well, certainly if you're alawyer and accountant, you
would.
You know, they they probablyhave 10 or 12 or 15 good quality
(17:53):
and then they fit calls inbetween.
So um yeah, just just let'sstart treating 26.
Let's not let whatever whateveryou know we didn't do in 25.
Let's in 26 make this for allour listeners and all times gym
members.
This is the year, life isshort.
I'm sure we've all lost someonedear to us in the last 12
(18:13):
months, sadly.
And, you know, let's let's intheir legacy, let's use it as a
reminder that we need to squeezethe lemon hard and make this
our best year ever.
Tom Panos (18:25):
Just talking about those doctors, guys, I was just
thinking about it.
They don't, you know, in realestate, I'm sure it does happen,
but not very often, they don'thave wait lists.
Like if you look at most, mostdoctors you've got to go in, the
good ones, you got to wait tosee them.
You can't just say, I'm seeingyou.
In real estate, generally, ifyou say, I want to list my
(18:48):
house, you're available to listyour house.
Most agents don't say, I have afull schedule, I can't take
your property on for anotherthree months.
And maybe, maybe what thereason is you're absolutely
right.
True professionals are sittingthere doing the job, not telling
people how much money they'remaking or how good they're
(19:08):
going.
They're actually doing theirjob.
They're, they're they'rethey're serving their clients or
or their or their patients assuch.
Um Is there any habits that youthink, both of you, you look
back at your team and you thinkto yourself, you know what?
If more real estate agents hadthese as habits, they'd be doing
(19:29):
so much better.
Are there any sort of microrituals or or or repeatable
behaviors that you think aregood things people adopt in
2026?
John McGrath (19:37):
I'm coaching a guy at the moment, tell me one of
our young up-and-coming brightlads to write about two million
this year.
And he said, I remember uh uhhe was referring to Alex
Phillips, you know, it was apodcast he'd heard Alex Phillips
on or a seminar or something hesaw him out.
And uh and hey, Alex is thegun, best best real estate agent
in the history, certainly ofAustralia, if not the world.
(19:59):
Um he said, uh I heard AlexPhillips say, you know, just
just hit dial, as you're hangingup, hit dial, hit dial, just
keep doing it.
I know Alex Jordan uh adopted asimilar practice himself, but
um, you know, it's just aboutAlex would be on the phone 12
hours a day, constantly.
(20:19):
So talk about no breaks, Tom,and no downtime and no time.
If you're just at AlexPhillips, you never catch him
look at social media.
Like once he's finished onecall, he's looking at his call,
he's he's on to the next, he'son to the next, he's onto the
next, he's ringing his pipeline.
So, you know, Hermosio saidsomething about volume negates
luck.
You are gonna miss somelistings, but it's not a problem
(20:40):
if you're going for 25 thismonth.
It's a problem if you're goingfor two.
So I think one of the habits isreally just um uh on the front
foot, be proactive, hit thecalls, don't overthink it,
because a lot of peopleoverthink, and it's you know, uh
they do it because they want toprocrastinate, because they
don't want the rejection.
So if you follow thebreadcrumbs back to rejection,
(21:01):
just get used to it, man.
Her mosey recently said, hesaid, I'm in the game of losing.
He said, I lose all day, everyday.
But he said, I know the more Ilose, the more I win.
And just as a different Troy,you know, preframe on I'm in the
game of losing.
So people get embarrassed.
Well, you know, I don't want toring one if he says no.
I thought we had such a goodconversation yesterday.
(21:22):
If he says no, he says no, youmove on to the next one and you
work out what you could havedone a bit better.
Troy Malcolm (21:27):
Troy.
The other habit that we alwayssee, the very best do, um, and
what we have seen this year isthat they're constantly wanting
to evolve their business.
They're not relying on whatworked in 2024.
They're not relying on whathappened and what worked three
weeks ago.
They're trying to evolve theirbusiness.
So they're students of life.
They're learning on the go,they're refining.
(21:48):
Like you just said there, John,they're refining their pitch.
If someone says no, how could Ido it better?
And I think the very besthabits are those that adopt new
skills and evolve their businessin 2026, they're definitely
going to win.
Tom Panos (22:00):
Beautifully said.
Let me let me share a habitthat I've adopted in 2025 that
I'm gonna triple down on 2026because it is just given me so
much peace and taken away somuch friction.
So for me, I used to hate,like, I hate having a
(22:22):
conversation with someone, andthen, and real estate agents
have to do this all the time.
They're going into properties,and then what happens is many
owners say, well, send me off aproposal, right?
I have a lot of the clientsthat I coach with, they say,
Tom, one of the things that doesmy head in is I'm running
around, I'm doing maybe, youknow, eight appraisals a week,
and I'm trying to manage theeight pieces of stock I already
(22:44):
got, and I feel guilty when Idon't get proposals done.
One of them said to me at thestart of this year, he says, You
know what I've been doing, Tom?
I said, What's that?
He goes, as soon as I get outof the car, I get in, uh get
into the car out of the listingpresentation, I actually shoot a
really powerful five-minutevideo summarizing everything
(23:04):
that I said, which is betterthan a proposal.
So, what I started doing at thestart of this year is when
people would say, Oh, Tom, ifyou can give us a proposal
there, I'd say, Listen, I am theproposal, I'm the website, I'm
I'm the person.
So, what I'll do for you isI'll actually do it in my own
words.
I'll do a very quick video,I'll send it back to you.
And I've got to tell you, ithas just it's it's just become
(23:26):
another process.
You finish your meeting,there's none of this, I've got
to get in and, you know, type inall these figures or speak to
an assistant.
So I think anything that takesaway friction in your life is a
good thing.
I reckon friction is what slowspeople down.
John McGrath (23:41):
I love that, Tommy.
Just and by the way, if I if Ireceived that as a potential
seller and someone said, youknow, great meeting.
We just want to go over hereare the five things that I'm
going to propose that we do withyour property.
Here's why I think, you know,if you encapsulate it into a
little, that's far morecompelling than a 20-page
document that no one readsanyway, to be quite honest.
(24:02):
Um, I I love that idea.
Or imagine if you said Tommy,turn this around.
You know, Tom, I'd love tospend hours doing a proposal for
you, but to be quite honest,when I'm not in a lounge room
with you or one of yourneighbours, I'm actually showing
buyers property and negotiatingdeals.
So I find it's more effectivefor me just to shoot a quick
video just uh reinforcing someof the key points.
(24:23):
So if you don't mind, I'll dothat.
Um, and it won't take you halfan hour to read, it'll take you
four minutes to watch.
And if off the back of that youfeel that you would want to
work with me, let's get moving.
So s I I really, I really bythe way, you're talking about
scarcity before, and I when Iwas selling full-time before
sort of managing the businessmore so, and I was usually had
(24:44):
about 15 campaigns running atany time, and I had this little
kind of calendar that I used todo, and it had the next four,
actually have the next six weeksrunning out.
And I would say, Tom, you know,I'd love to get started.
My issue is I know you want toopen this home in the morning,
and I agree it's the best time.
I can't start this home for twoweeks now unless I sell a few
(25:05):
of these that I'm runningbeforehand, which is quite
possible.
So, what I'd like to propose iswhy don't we say we're going to
start on the, you know, put adate out three weeks, but I'll
have you first on the list thatif I sell any of these
properties that I'm opening inthe morning, would that work for
you?
And scarcity, you know, Iremember reading the book from
Cialdini, it said, you know, theseven habits.
(25:26):
No, it wasn't seven habits, itwas influence.
And it was like six or seveninfluencing points.
And scarcity was one of the bigones.
And I found everyone would say,Oh, yeah, could you put us at
the top of the waiting list?
No, that'd be great.
No, we'd rather because I'dsay, look, it's no problem.
I've got some colleagues at theoffice that could handle it,
start next Saturday.
But if you want me standing onthe door and looking after you,
um, you know, all your inquiry,it's gonna be a three-week wait
(25:49):
at worst.
And uh, and I didn't make itup, it was real.
That was my, you know, if youwanted me standing at your door
next Saturday, I can't do it.
Um and it was a really strongclosing tool because people
would say, yeah, that'd begreat.
And inevitably, you know, aweek later I'd sell one of the
ones in the morning and andbring them into the fold.
Um, yeah, so that's that'sreally good.
What can we just we I know wehaven't got a lot of time on
(26:11):
this one left, Tommy, but uh youmentioned before about EBUs.
Maybe we should just touch onour observations.
And I want to start with youbecause I think you do some
brilliant coaching with yourclients around EBUs.
Okay, so I'll do it verystruggle, right, with EBUs.
What are you thinking is theirarea of struggle?
Tom Panos (26:28):
Okay, so to me, a a big uh brain dump on the things
that I reckon take an EBU frombeing extraordinary and
sometimes being average or evenbad scenarios, totally
dysfunctional.
Number one is that they don'thave clearly defined roles, and
they'll normally say thingsalong the lines, oh mate, we all
(26:49):
chip in.
The problem with everyonechipping in is that you have
drop balls, you have confusions,you have agents working below
their pre-grade.
And what I think Clary does isit creates speed, and every EBU
needs to have speed.
Probably the next thing is thelead agent often says, I can do
it better.
No one can do it like me.
(27:11):
As far as I'm and I know thatthe first the first one sounds
contradictory to the second one,but I really do think you've
got to have 80% of what you doas a lead agent, right?
Um, you've got to turn aroundand say to yourself, yes, you
can probably do it better.
But every time you say yes tothings, you're saying no to
(27:33):
other things.
And the problem that you haveis what would you rather have?
A lot of stuff getting done,even if it's not at the same
level that what you would havedone.
Um but often I find that theselead agents can be bottlenecks
to things.
And probably the last thing is,I just can't help, they use
assistance as receptionistsinstead of revenue partners.
(27:56):
I mean, assistance should bethere.
And I've actually put up a youknow a slide up there.
I mean, there are too manyofficers that use their
assistants um as receptionists,not as, you know, someone that's
going to help you increase yourrevenue.
Yeah.
They're probably the they'reprobably the the main ones.
(28:18):
Obviously, having a dailyhuddle that's you know standing
up for five or seven minutes isvery important.
The way you start your days,the way your day um unfolds, and
probably trying to grow toofast without having the
foundations.
And I know that we're all inabout growth, but I have seen
real estate companies thatactually don't have the plumbing
(28:40):
that can support the extrawater that's flowing through
there.
So you've just got to make surethat that side of it's good.
I just want to touch verybriefly, John, on EBUs.
Actually, you're gonna be atthat event, John.
On February the 10th, realestate gym's got a kickstart at
Sydney Olympic Park, and you'regonna speaking there.
(29:02):
But I've also got Bailey from23rd Street.
Do you guys ever use Bailey?
I think you do, don't you?
Every day.
Every day.
Every day.
We've got, and I've got a panelof four agents that are under
30 that are doing over a millioneach or over a hundred sales
each.
Liam Monique from McGraw, um uhone of Diamond TD's boys, um,
(29:26):
Ellie.
Um, we've also got Dip, who Iwould say arguably in the inner
west, along with Taroon, wouldbe the two biggest companies.
You know, he's a great agent.
Yep.
So February the 10th, I'd loveto, all real estate gym members.
And I know, John, you guys,kickstart season is a very big
period in February, but I'dactually say, what do you what
(29:50):
do you both do over the holidaysto ensure that when you come
back to work, you don't havethat, you know, that horrible
feeling that footy players havetowards the end.
Of their retirement when theycome back first day of training,
and then you hear, man, I thinkI'm gonna I can't do another
season, they retire.
What what that what do yourecommend a good protocol for an
(30:10):
agent uh to recharge, relax,enjoy, but at the same time not
come back tired?
John McGrath (30:20):
Yeah, well, look, I mean, everyone treats their
breaks and their Christmases orany other holidays differently.
Some people go hard and playhard and they're more tired at
the end of the holiday.
Other people recharge thebatteries, which and I'm like
you guys in that secondcategory.
I think, you know, you you'vejust got to work out what what a
lot of people, you know, theysay as a comparison is a thief
of joy.
A lot of people are doing stuffbecause they think that's what
(30:42):
everyone does, you know.
I just I just find, you know,what's my sweet spot?
I've got my dogs who are hereunder the desk at home with me
now, just sleeping away abouttaking for a walk.
I'll spend a lot of time withthem, hang out with a small
group of people, um, uh, youknow, go for some early morning
swims.
I do a lot of reading over thebreak, um, Tommy, and and
(31:02):
listening.
You know, probably morelistening nowadays than reading
because I just enjoy the wholethe whole podcast.
I mean, you've got to thinkabout when when we started Tommy
in real estate, and Troy to alesser degree when you started,
but you know, there was no rulethere was no real podcast.
So if you wanted to learn, youhad to go and find a book and
sit down and find the time toread it.
Now you're sticking your earpods that weren't around at that
(31:23):
point, and you go for a walk oryou're in the car, and and you
can tap into the minds and theadvice and the mentoring of the
best people on planet Earth.
So what do they say, Troy?
In the age of information,ignorance is a choice.
Um I don't find sorry, Troy,just gonna finish.
A lot of people say, Oh,doesn't that exhaust you?
Is that a holiday?
(31:44):
Yes, it's a holiday.
Sitting down, having a coffeeuh in the morning sun, listening
to a podcast, feeling that I'mgrowing my brain and my skills
and my acumen for next year isis is a joy, Troy.
Troy Malcolm (31:59):
Some of the greatest thinking time you can
have is when you're actuallyhaving that break.
And so there's so many dayswhere you're on the lounge or
you're in the park or you'rewalking the dogs or at the
beach.
Use that time to just maybelook at one thing in your
business that could improve.
It takes half an hour.
You're already outside, you'reenjoying the beautiful sunshine
(32:19):
or the water or whatever thatis.
But you actually do get a lotof clarity during the breaks as
well.
Um, I really love that.
So I used to take a notepadeverywhere, but now it's the
iPhone uh and just like jotsomething down.
Oh, what if we did that?
You don't have to implement itor execute it, but just write it
down and think what one thatcan chat better.
John McGrath (32:37):
Shout out to Troy, he won't say because he's a
humble guy.
But since he's taken over ourManly Forest Field and Sun Ives
businesses, he's doubled his uhtarget in last year's
performance in three months.
And wowing great guns.
Troy, I'm proud of you, aprotege of mine and a dear, dear
friend, and he is absolutelybraining it out there.
(32:57):
So well done.
Go go uh northern beaches anduh mid-north shore teams.
Well done, Troy.
Thank you.
Tom Panos (33:04):
Very exciting.
Well done, Troy.
Troy Malcolm (33:12):
I make the team listen to it every day.
We should see our numbers spikeagain.
Tom Panos (33:16):
100%.
So we'll be with you again nextweek, everyone.
Keep going, not long to go.
Stay well and have a greatweek.
John McGrath (33:24):
See you guys.
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